CONCORD — Three-quarters of residents here live in fear of being evicted from their homes, a group of affordable housing advocates said Thursday, as they demanded local officials step in and better protect the city’s renters.

Talk about the affordable housing shortage plaguing the Bay Area tends to focus on major cities like San Francisco and Oakland. But in the East Bay bedroom community of Concord — which traditionally has been more affordable than its larger neighbors — residents are buckling under the burden of a skyrocketing cost of living, according to a study by the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), First 5 Contra Costa and Raise the Roof.

Unlike some other Bay Area cities, Concord has no rent control or just cause eviction rules — meaning landlords are free to raise rents, and to evict tenants for any reason.

The group of affordable housing advocates is trying to change that. Their presentation Thursday, in which activists and struggling tenants spoke to a crowd of about 100 attendees, was the first step in what is likely to be a long and difficult battle.

“No matter how far we move or where we move to in the Bay Area, the tidal wave of the housing crisis washes over us, drowning our most vulnerable neighbors first,” Jahmese Myres, deputy director of EBASE, said during the presentation at the Concord Senior Citizens Center. “We cannot build our way out of the crisis, and more market-rate units will not trickle down to low-income families or to homeless residents….One of the most important, most critical, sharpest and most effective tools is protection — keeping families in their homes now, ensuring their current living situations remain affordable, remain stable and remain healthy.”

The median rent for a two-bedroom home in Concord increased 63 percent between May 2011 and May of this year, when it hit $2,090, according to Zillow.

As a result, 93 percent of Concord residents reported worrying their rents will increase, and 80 percent said they have received a rent hike in the past two years, according to the survey of 968 residents conducted at public gathering places such as child care centers, clinics, parks and places of worship.

That fear prevents some tenants from speaking out about problems, and as a result, many are living in poor conditions, according to the report. Nearly half of residents reported living with rodents, bedbugs or other pests, and 40 percent reported struggling with mold.

Nevertheless, securing renter protections likely will be an uphill political battle, said Concord Mayor Edi Birsan, who was sitting in the front row during Thursday’s event — the only member of city council to attend. He encouraged attendees to fight for rent control and just-cause rules by voting, but he acknowledged that many Concord officials are against those measures.

“It’s a hard thing to accept — especially amongst us. Especially hearing all the complaints,” he said. “But there is a very strong view that rent control is bad.”

Concord is on the front lines of the affordable housing shortage, said Aimee Inglis, associate director of Tenants Together. The organization runs renter hotlines for callers from all over the state, and Concord is one of the cities that generates the most calls, she said.

That’s why it’s crucial for local politicians to bring rent control and just-cause eviction rules to Concord, Inglis said.

“It’s heartbreaking to tell people, ‘you’re facing this eviction, you’re facing these rent increases — and there is no law that protects you,'” Inglis said.

Rent control ordinances in cities including San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose protect certain long-term tenants of older buildings from large rent hikes. In those same cities and a handful of others, landlords also are prohibited from evicting a tenant unless they have “just cause” — such as a tenant failing to pay rent or creating a nuisance, or if the owner wants to take the unit off the rental market. Twelve Bay Area cities have just-cause eviction rules, and nine have rent control, said Rhea Laughlin, community engagement program officer for First 5 Contra Costa.

Though it doesn’t have rent control or eviction protection, Concord is “acutely aware of the housing crisis,” Jennifer Ortega, the city’s community relations manager, wrote in an email. In 2016, the city devoted more resources to inspect rental units, address tenant grievances and monitor property conditions. Last year the city created a rent review program to respond to complaints of rent increases that exceed 10 percent per year.

Dolores Ramos, a 48-year-old fast-food worker, told the audience Thursday that she shares a two-bedroom house with six people — the only way she can afford the $2,000 rent. Ramos, her husband and their 9-year-old daughter sleep in one room, her cousin sleeps in the living room, and another family of three sleeps in the other bedroom. They all share one bathroom, which makes the morning rush to get ready for school and work chaotic.

“As parents, the only thing we want is to be able to provide our children with a safe and stable place to live,” Ramos said in Spanish, speaking through an interpreter during an interview. “The last thing we want is to be in this situation.”

Ramos also serves as co-chair of Central County Regional Group, a project of First 5 Contra Costa.

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For Sherry Davis, the struggle to afford a home in Concord became too much last year. After the rent she paid for a one-bedroom apartment increased from $800 to $1,350 in five years, Davis headed for Vallejo, where she now pays $950 a month, excluding water and other fees, to live in a mobile home. She’s stuck in an unfamiliar city far from her friends, making her feel alienated and alone.

“It’s a bridge toll. It’s a lot of driving,” Davis, a retired legal secretary, said to the audience Thursday. “No one wants to come visit me over there.”

Marisa Kendall covers homelessness as part of the Bay Area News Group's housing team. She previously covered litigation for The Recorder in San Francisco, and started her career reporting on crime and breaking news for The News-Press in Southwest Florida.

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